Archive for Visa Business

I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business.

When I first launched my technology PR business in 1998, you could say I was an accidental entrepreneur. Having moved countries without a job, I decided to become self-employed and launched a consulting business from home.

Stats from the infographic below from Visa Business show I was the perfect candidate:

58% of new entrepreneurship activity is from the services industry

69% of businesses start from the home

72% of home-based businesses are operated by women

However, I also know that many businesses fail in the first five years. Having outlasted that milestone I wanted to share with you 15 crucial lessons I’ve learned about building a business – some I stumbled upon, some turned out to be lucky guesses and some were hard-earned lessons I’d like to save you from. Read More→

I am blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business.

According to a Visa Business infographic on customer care, it takes 12 positive service experiences to make up for just one negative experience.

Ouch.

If you’re a small business owner, that can sound really intimidating. You might feel that once a customer has a negative experience with your company, it would be way too much work to try and win them back.

However, in this day and age of highly competitive markets and everyone taking their issues with your company onto social media, you’ll want to make sure you provide exceptional customer service – even to those having a negative experience with your company.

Why? According to the infographic below:

• 36% of businesses have won back a customer due to a positive support experience on social media
• 71% of those who experienced positive social care are likely to recommend that brand to others
• 42% of customers purchased more after a good customer service experience

If you’re looking to turn potentially negative experiences into positive ones, here are three ways to win your customer back and have them become strong brand evangelists who continue to buy from you: Read More→

According to an infographic released by Visa Business, half of the world’s entrepreneurs fall between the ages of 25–44, and 20% of employers used less than $5000 for startup financing. (Note: you can see the full infographic at the end of this article)

That has certainly been true in my experience – my father started a multimillion dollar business for $2000, and three businesses I’ve been involved in were started when I was in my 30s and financed for less than $5000 (including one that sold for six-figures).

It doesn’t have to take a lot of money to start a business, but it often involves a lot more time than would-be entrepreneurs expect.

Why? Because somewhere along the way we start thinking about our business 24/7, end up with a workload that starts to consume our lives. Our health and personal relationships suffer, and we lament: “If only I had more time!”

To escape this vicious circle, I’m going to share with you a time management system I picked up years ago specifically geared for entrepreneurs, one designed to help you increase productivity and therefore increase both your income and the quality of your time off.

With this system, we do away with the usual “weekdays” and “weekends” and instead classify days into the 3 F’s:

Need something specific?

Disclosure

Please assume that I have a material connection with some of the products/services mentioned on my blog. That means that I may receive a commission if you purchase through my link. While I only recommend what I truly believe in, please do you own research to decide if a purchase is best for you. Thank you!